'Abbot Kinney Boulevard is the nucleus of Venice," said Hillary Greene Shugrue, manager of French 50's-60's, the vintage French furniture and art store that sits at the south end of this Los Angeles street.

This is quite a feat, considering that 15 years ago, Abbot Kinney (named for the developer who founded Venice) was a derelict strip of rundown beach cottages and empty brick industrial buildings called West Washington Boulevard.

But today, Shugrue's statement isn't all that far-fetched: Abbot Kinney has, seemingly overnight, become the darling of Los Angeles' art and architecture set. Restaurants, chic shops and galleries line the quiet street. The weathered cottages have become lingerie and antique stores, and the fat-tired Schwinns on the sidewalk block the path of construction crews working on loft buildings.

"Three years ago, you wouldn't walk from here to Lincoln Boulevard unless you had security personnel," said Philip Fracassi, owner of Equator Books. "Now you see women walking dogs in the middle of the night. There's been so much upheaval – rich artists, producers, movie people, architects moving in."

But it's high-end contemporary art and design that have come to dominate. Venice's new affluent population shops at stores like Tortoise, No. 1208, for Japanese accessories such as Masahiro Mori ceramic salt and pepper sets ($65), or Scentiments, at 1331, an avant-garde floral design shop that creates arrangements made from flora such as artichokes ($12.50 a stem) and moss-covered rocks ($2.50 each).

Ed Ruscha, Dennis Hopper and other local celebrities gather at Equator, No. 1103, a 2-year-old bookshop-gallery in a converted garage, which specializes in the out-of-print, from a 1958 Playboy ($30) to a first edition of "On the Road" ($5,000).

A shopper might pick up Dragon Beard skate shoes ($100) at the Japanese sneaker shop Waraku, at 1225, or custom-blended organic scents ($185 for a quarter-ounce) at the austere Strange Invisible Perfumes, at 1138, or a midcentury leather couch of Danish design ($1,400) at French 50's-60's, at 1427.

Galleries pepper the street. The Jaxon House, at 1337, features abstract black-and-white photography, and the Red House Gallery, at 1224, features works containing arch cultural references.

Even the food is on the edge. Axe (pronounced ash-AY), at 1009, is an organic restaurant where dishes including red curry coconut lamb stew ($22) are served on wooden benches in a minimalist concrete room.

During the day, the heart of the street remains Abbot's Habit, at 1401, a 14-year-old cafe that has survived all the changes. Here, screenwriters, artists, hippies and surfers concur that the coffee ($1.35) is strong, the dogs out front are friendly, and the people-watching unparalleled.

Janelle Brown's story was distributed by the New York Times News Service.